The Days Left Behind
by ivymay
Summary: The largest relationship is focused on Daryl Dixon and another character, Sage Metello.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"_Not that high!" she screamed, giggling as he pushed her higher and higher, ignoring her five year old squeals. Her deep brown curls bounced as she swung back and forth, catching the sunlight as she moved. He checked the time on his Power Ranger's watch. _

"_We gotta go home now." He stated pulling at the metal chain to help stop the swing, the swing twisted and threw her onto the ground, she fell on her hands and knees and got up smiling, her left knee bleeding down her leg, into those little white socks she wore with the ruffles at the top. _

"_I'm sorry! You're bleeding, c'mon!" He grabbed her hand and tried to drag her home, running. She laughed the whole way home, and even once they had parted ways he could hear her mother screaming over the blood she coated the hem of her white summer dress in, and he could still hear her laughter. _

"Damn" he mumbled sliding out of his bed in the guard tower which overlooked Cell Block C. He closed his eyes as he searched the floor for his boots, finally hitting one with the outside of his foot he bent over to put it on. Slinging his crossbow over his shoulder he opened the door, descending the stairs he walked over to where Rick was mumbling gibberish to his baby girl.

"How's she doing with formula?"

"Almost on empty, we'll have to go out today."

"I heard there's a grocery store up the street, couple blocks" a petite Asian boy walked out from a cell, rubbing his eyes wearily.

"Can you go?" Rick inquired, handing the child to Daryl and walking over to their baby supplies. "We need about eight or so boxes of formula to last…"

"Hey little one" Daryl whispered to the little girl, Judith as her brother had named her.

"Yeah sure, I'll just ask Maggie if she wants to come or something." Glenn, running a hand down the side of his face, retreated back into the cell he had came from.

"Rick, how early do you think we could teach her how to shoot?" Daryl laughed swinging the baby from side to side as she watched him wide eyed. Rick scoffed, scooping the baby out of Daryl's arms.

"_My_ baby will never have to even touch a gun." Daryl raised his eyebrows.

"C'mon this baby was born to kick-ass."

…

"Hey where were you earlier?"

"Do I really have to check in with _you_ in the goddamn apocalypse?" He slid his button up shirt over the back of his chair, pulling off his undershirt.

"At least warn me would you?"

"Oh come on sweetheart, who doesn't want to see a little more of ol' Merle." He moved closer to her.

"Me, now where were you?" He sighed, stepping back and grabbing a clean shirt out of his dresser. "I was just taking care of some business, nothing to concern yourself with." She threw her hand onto her hip, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, then why is there blood on your shirt?"

He pushed the hair out of her face, "You're just so beautiful, but so nosy." He pulled harder on her hair. "Anyways you better watch what you're saying there, if the Governor only knew some of the shit you say? You'd be in serious trouble."

"Oh really, what would he do to me then?"

"You don't even want to know, but it could just take one instant of me being mad at you and I could just slip him some information…" She scoffed, "Imagine that: Sage keeps inquiring about what we're doing all of the time, I think she's planning a revolution."

"You wouldn't dare lose me"

"Honey I wouldn't be too sure of that."

"Like it's not obvious, you think I'm some sort of treasure map to find your brother just because I was with him for the last time maybe two seconds after you were?" He started laughing, twirling his makeshift arm replacement around the bedside table.

"You think you're so right but I still have more over you than you can handle, you are mine and there's no way you can get out of it."

"That's not true."

"Well would you prefer to die?"

…

Everyone was waiting around, fidgeting. No one wanted to send out Glenn and Maggie after what had happened earlier, the people they had lost, they wouldn't be able to sacrifice any more. Glenn was making senseless jokes, laughing just to fill the room with sound. Maggie loaded a few extra guns into the back of the car, mainly just to appease the rest of the group. Glenn looked to Daryl, standing against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.

…

"Curious, curious, curious" He mumbled, pacing in front of her, a slim knife in his hand. Stepping out of his pace he slapped her as hard as possible, she didn't dare move.

"So you want to see what the big boys do eh?" She stared up into his harsh eyes, crossing her legs where she sat on his bed.

"I'll do what you want me to."

"Bullshit!" He yelled, slamming his knee down next to her legs, moving on top of her with his hand over her throat. Her long brown hair fanned out underneath her, her eyes clear and unfazed.

"C'mon I'll show you what you're up against, bitch" He got up, pulling her up with him, his hand at her throat. He tightened his hold and pulled her up to him, making her stand on her toes, and crushing his lips against hers he pushed her towards the door.

"Meet me outside of the gates at one"

She heard the door slam and continued to walk down the hallway, slamming her boots against the ground as she walked. She fast walked down the street, just trying to get to her apartment without being seen by too many people. She didn't want to go anywhere with Merle, but on the other hand she hadn't been outside of the gates since Merle declared that she was to obey him or he would have her killed. Or whatever the Governor was accustomed to doing to traitors. She threw open her apartment door, one which she was not allowed to lock for months. She quickly went to her bedroom, redressing in a green shirt, black pants, and her leather jacket. She looked at herself in the mirror, for the first time since she could remember. Her cheek didn't look to be bruising but she'd probably put makeup on it later, she pulled her hair closer to her face, noting the way the length of it weighed down her curls. She knelt next to her bed, searching under it for her pre apocalyptic bag, something she kept just for the sense that maybe one day the world would go back to normal and her necessities would again be makeup and a cell phone instead of a knife and handgun. She fixed the impending bruises and walked out the door. She walked towards the edge of town where she knew of a door that led into a small courtyard, she opened it, walking through the courtyard, searching for Merle. She turned a corner and he was facing her along with about four other comrades.

"What's she doing here?"

"This is my expedition and it would be in your best interest not to question what I do okay?" Merle turned to the smaller boy, Sage walked up to Merle, grabbing a gun out of his back pocket and placing it in hers, he spun around.

"Not a smart move but if you get us all killed…"

"You know that Daryl taught me how to shoot, and you also know he was always better at it then you." Merle's jaw clenched and she smiled, reveling in his anger. He turned around, leading the procession into a wooded area. Sage was now walking at the head of the group, looking forward into the woods for the first sign of whatever they were there for. She heard murmurs behind them but didn't have time to look back before she tripped on something rather solid, but before she had the time to fall Merle had grabbed the back of her jacket, and draping an arm around her stomach he pulled her up.

"Easy there sweetheart," Merle whispered into her ear before addressing the group, "Well well well hasn't someone gotten creative with the walkers huh?" Merle circled the bodies, left out on the ground cut up into words.

"What the hell are we even out here for Merle?"

"You know baby," he cooed wrapping his hand around her waist and pulling her into him, "you did say you wanted to know what we did here, well welcome." He moved his hand up and down her back before resting it on her ass, she looked down and he whispered down into her ear, "Now we're here to kill a traitor, just like we would be doing to you if you ever decided to cross me, isn't that right?"

"Who is it…?" She whispered, not daring to look up as there was always that slight chance that it was her they were going to execute, that she was the one they wanted dead. She could have crossed him and never have known.

"Michonne" He grunted, before he heard one of the men yell, and within two seconds she was being grabbed from behind a kantana at her throat. Merle automatically threw his hands up, "Woah, woah woah, this is really unnecessary… just leave her behind..."

"Back away," the words slithered out of her mouth as if fueled by poison, and Sage did not want to see the ignition, part of her hoped to be shot, more of her hoped that maybe just maybe her and Michonne would get away. She could not think of one reason she'd want to stay in Woodbury, maybe it was just that slight connection Merle had to Daryl but that wasn't worth it anymore. Her chest rose and fell with the chance that she might finally be free, and at that moment she felt Michonne tug on her body, dragging her backwards as they ran off into the woods. Merle began to run after her but she screamed for him to stop, screamed sentences and sentences of loyal lies, and he stopped, and she was free. Michonne dropped the kantana from her throat and Sage turned around, grabbing Michonne's hand and pulling it over her shoulder, having noticed a gunshot wound to her thigh. They began to run at a rhythmic pace, headed as far away from Woodbury as they could manage. After what must've been a mile at least they came upon the parking lot of a grocery store, there was a car parked there and she heard people talking.

"Maybe they can help us!" Sage exclaimed, Michonne answered her by putting a finger to her lips, and pulling her to crouch behind an abandoned car. They were talking about a baby they were raising in a jail, although Sage assumed they weren't serious, babies and apocalypses did not mix, when she realized she knew one of the men, she couldn't quite place it until she remembered. Glenn.

"Michonne! I know hi-" Michonne shoved her hand over her mouth and nodded to a figure behind the couple. Her head was fuzzy but she recognized Merle, she tried to scream to tell Glenn to run, but Michonne held her completely silent. She thrashed trying to run, scraping her knees repeatedly on the pavement, trying to get up as tears started to pour over Michonne's hand. She could feel that she had ripped through the knees of her pants now, and her knees stung with pain but she needed to get up she moved her legs back and forth, scraping them continuously, trying to get out of Michonne's hold as Merle, Glenn and the girl now had guns raised at each other. Merle was shouting about his brother's location and when Glenn held off on where they were Merle somehow got the girl with a knife to her throat. They needed help, Sage pawed at the car window trying to give herself some leverage to get up but Michonne was stronger than she was, she slid to the ground, she had given up and just wished that she couldn't hear their voices. Their car spurted to life and they were gone. Michonne waited until their car was gone for what seemed like hours before they got on their feet.

"What do you think you were doing! We could have saved them!" Michonne didn't speak, walking over to the basket they had left behind. Baby supplies, Sage rubbed her forehead, they weren't joking.

"Where are you going now?" Michonne had scooped up the basket and began heading south east.

"The prison, you shouldn't have bloodied yourself up so bad, could've been useful."

"I am useful, and I would've been a hell of a lot more useful if you would've let me help them!"

"What? And gotten me killed? And have gotten yourself stuck back in Woodbury where Merle and the Governor could have their way with you ever single day again?" Sage gaped at her.

"How did you know…?"

"The Governor detailed it in this journal he had, I searched his apartment before I left. I knew you wouldn't fight me when I took you, thought it might turn out well for the both of us." Sage ran behind the nearest car, throwing up mercilessly just thinking of the things that bastard could've written about her. She always knew he was the sickest person she had ever crossed, Merle just hurt her for power and sex, the Governor liked the fight.

"You okay? C'mon we gotta get moving." Michonne put a hand on her back and led them back in the direction she was originally heading. They had been walking for some amount of time, Sage couldn't estimate, or even guess she was just walking. Michonne started walking faster so she looked up, seeing gates on a very large prison. Michonne walked up to a walker, jamming her sword into its skull and carrying it on with them, Sage looked at her flabbergasted, until she remembered the day Glenn and Rick wore walker guts as a way to divert her smell, that must've been twenty minutes before she was left trying to undo Merle's handcuffs. They walked up to the gate and saw a figure a little ways off, he came up to the fence and Sage recognized him automatically.

"Rick…"


	2. Chapter 2

He slid the gates open, watching the walkers standing around them. They rushed in, Michonne sliding the walker off of her sword before closing the gates behind her. Rick checked the gates and led them through an expansive yard.

"What happened to you…? Rick asked, Sage wanted to stab him because really although she had made the decision to stay, it was his fault.

"Well since you had to handcuff Merle to that roof, I stayed to help him. Which you already knew…"

"I'm sorry, he was out of control, and you knew that."

"Then we were saved by some mercenaries it seemed but uh, things went bad after that and well, basically an hour ago Merle took me to go kill Michonne," Sage motioned to Michonne who had her head down, "I had no idea I thought we were just going to kill walkers but um then me and Michonne escaped and well um Merle took Glenn and this other girl and…" Rick looked at her accusingly.

"Why didn't you help them?"

"Uh… I… I thought it would be better to not just have Michonne killed and then have me brought back to hell where I would most likely be killed and there was no chance of saving them. We needed to send real help." Rick sighed. "We know where they are, we know how to get in…"

"You won't be doing anything now by the looks of you." Sage then took the time to look at her knees, blood was pooling into her boots and the knees of her pants were completely torn off. They approached another gate, Rick opened it with a set of keys he had and then brought them to a door, Sage stopped him, putting her hand on the door and slowly closing it.

"Look, I don't really want to see Daryl so um…" Rick raised an eyebrow, Daryl had done everything in his power to save her, even more than he did so his brother.

"He needs to know you're alive…"

"Not before we know Glenn and…"

"Maggie"

"We need to get them safe first okay?" Rick nodded.

"I'll get Hershall and have him fix you up somewhere else okay?" Sage nodded, she now knew less than half of the group it seemed so far. He brought them through a door, bringing them into a small room between a cell block and a hallway, he entered the cell block, holding the door after him and motioning to an older man on crutches. He whispered something to him and then went into the cell block.

"Rick tells me you're a friend." He smiled sitting down at a nearby picnic table-like set up. "Hop up here so I can look at those knees okay?" She walked over to him, sitting on the table in front of him. "You messed yourself up pretty bad huh?"

"I guess so…"

"Here let me go get a first aid kit."

…

Rick walked into the cell block, motioning to Daryl who was idly playing with an arrow. Even though he was going against her requests, he had to tell Daryl no matter how indebted he was to her. Daryl got up walking over to him, he moved over to the stairs sitting on them. Rick stood over him.

"We need to talk…" Daryl raised an eyebrow, putting down the arrow he had next to him.

"Yeah?"

"I just found two girls at the outside gates and…" Daryl started to get up, Rick put a hand on his chest, pushing him back down.

"Rick they could be dangerous!"

"Trust me they're not… Look this goes far beyond two possible intruders…" Daryl looked helplessly confused.

"Unhuh? Well what's up then?"

"They were there when Glenn and Maggie were taken by a man who had tried to kill one of them and we presume hurt the other…"

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go."

"Daryl… it was Merle..."

"No. They're lying, you know that."

"There's a woman named Michonne out there that Merle had tried to kill… and um Sage is with her, she wasn't lying…" Daryl shot up, pushing past Rick but before he had gotten to the other end of the cell block Rick pulled him back.

"She doesn't want to see you…"

"What are you talking about?"

"She told me she wants to find Glenn and Maggie first before we get involved in what happened in Atlanta, and before that for your matter…"

"Rick..."

"I can talk to her once Hershall fixes her up a bit…"

"What happened to her?" Daryl was almost shouting at this point, and everyone was staring at them from inside of their cell blocks.

"Let's go upstairs eh?"

"No what happened to her?" he demanded his hands balling into fists.

"She just scraped her knees up a little bit she'll be fine."

"What are you talking about she'll be fine! You left her in Atlanta!"

"You need to calm down…" Daryl's chest was rising and falling at a rapid rate, he stood still trying to determine whether he should listen to Rick or go find her.

"You left my brother handcuffed to a rooftop and you left her there with him!" Rick gave in; he needed Daryl on his side he couldn't be fighting against him.

"Go ahead." Rick murmured motioning to the front entrance of the cell block. Daryl ripped the keys from his hands and undid the lock, walking over to Sage in a hostile manner, stopping as he saw her for the first time in what seemed like ten years. He remembered his dream, pushing her on the swing set in their old neighborhood, where he accidentally knocked her over, giving her a skinned knee before they retired to their childhood houses, his right next to hers. But now both of her knees were horrifically skinned and he could not think of one thing to do to make up for not being able to protect her. So he stood watching her as she stared at him.

"Daryl good thing you're here, could you help me with her? I'm going to fix up Michonne." Daryl didn't move. "Here just keep dabbing at the cuts with this," He handed him a large piece of gauze with alcohol and blood on it. "And when it looks clean just wrap it with the gauze on the table okay?" Daryl finally moved, sitting on the bench with her feet in between his legs. Hershall had cut her pants into shorts so he could clean her wounds better and her boots had been removed, her white socks only had small spots of blood on them. He pressed the gauze to her left knee and she cringed, he hesitated. She laughed, the exact same laugh he had heard in his dream.

"Don't worry about it, it doesn't hurt that bad." He looked up at her and she was smiling, her curly brown hair, which was remarkably clean, shifted forward into her face as she leaned down to look at him. He was between hating her for accusing Merle after all of the things that they had done before, and killing Merle for just the small possibility of ever hurting her. And then he realized it was Merle's fault, the way she smiled wasn't the way a liar would and after all she did stay on that rooftop with him, she saved him and damned herself in the process.

"What'd Merle do to you…?" Her face turned stoic, "Rick told me that he thought he had done something… I'm sorry…" She smiled again, looking up.

"That's for another time okay?" He didn't want it to be, of course he didn't he wanted to know now.

"Why?"

"Because if we go to save Glenn and Maggie… and Merle's there well I don't want you to decide to leave him there because of what I have to say…" Anger was starting to spread through his body as he tried to focus his attention on her knees and them only; he began to wrap her left knee.

"I need to know." He muttered with a hard jaw as Sage silently watched him fix her knee. She exhaled audibly.

"Can we please do this later? Please…" Daryl hurriedly finished bandaging her legs and, helping her walk, brought her out into the courtyard they were in before. She tried to think of anything she could just blurt out, anything to tell him so he wouldn't ask her anything, and so she wouldn't have to answer.

"Remember when this all started?" She looked down. He laughed.

"Sage, our mothers were best friends… hell we were even born on the same day. Don't think I can't figure out when you're avoiding me." Well that did not work, she thought.

"Yes and you and Merle were the best thing that ever happened to me when the world went to hell, so you have to understand why I can't just tell on Merle…" Daryl scoffed, he never thought that the day he would see her again he would be so pissed at her. He stopped her, turning to face her.

"I need to know... Did he do that to your face?"

"No um I…"

"Don't lie to me."

"Okay yes but…"

"So tell me what he did!"

"He protected me, yes I paid for it but it would've been a lot worse if I didn't…"

"What do you mean?"

"He knew that I was planning to leave the settlement we ended up in, he knew that I even had ways to obtain all of the weapons and bring their leader down, he knew that I was not loyal and I would be killed for it. So he protected me, but it came at a price and that's really all you need to know. He was helping me Daryl."

"You are such a liar…"

"What do you want Daryl? I know you, you'd choose your family over anyone else and I'm just trying to make it possible for us to all be together!"

"You know that's not true…"

"What do you want then?"

"Just tell me"

"We've been through worse together…"

"Yes but we weren't together, I couldn't help you this time…"

"So there's no harm in not knowing… it happened but it's over…"

"Tell me okay?" Daryl was practically screaming.

"Please…" He couldn't help but be confused, he had never seen her so distraught in his life.

"I… I don't want to make you upset but I just… I need to know." She walked over to a patch of grass on the lawn and laid down on it, he followed her sitting next to her.

"Just please don't be mad…"

"How could I be mad…?"

"Just… never mind." She started pulling individual blades of grass out of the lawn, trying to get the courage to tell him but I guess she had to eventually. "He um… well it started when he first found out what I had been doing and he sort of cornered me and told me all of this stuff about how when we were growing up he was jealous of you, how we were best friends and eventually he got to saying how he could never get over how jealous he was when he um… when he found out we had y'know had sex when we were teenagers… and uh he was saying all this crazy stuff about how since he had all this evidence against me he could use it against me so that I would have sex with him too… and then he acted on it." Daryl's head was spinning, he laid down next to her on the grass, putting his hand over hers and he knew that it felt forced but he hadn't shown anyone any sort of affection in years.

"I'm sorry…"

"No it, it kept me alive. At least he didn't tell…"

"How can you be thankful that my brother raped you…?"

"I couldn't do anything about it… I would've died…"

"I can fix this…"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey guys I just wanted to know whether or not you think I should continue this before the new episodes come out, as in I'd make up my own story from here, or wait and continue following the television show. Another option could probably be just to add in background stories of Merle, Daryl and Sage, or of the group as a whole if you'd prefer if I waited to write more as to the progression of the story. Please let me know then! Thank you. **_

The light was pouring through the windows on the opposite wall; instinctively Sage rose still wrapped in her blanket, running one hand through her long hair as she tried to figure out how to put her day clothes on without being seen by everyone, as there was no real door. She pulled her clothes out of her bag, looking around to make sure no one was truly awake yet, deciding it was clear she began to change. While she was lacing up her boots she heard a knock on the door, turning her face up to meet Daryl, she smiled.

"Giving everyone quite the show eh?"

"I do not know what you are talking about." He laughed as he went to go sit on her unoccupied bed. He looked down on her putting a sock on her right foot, he couldn't help but notice pale white scars crossing across her feet.

"What's that?" He asked pointing, one eyebrow raised. Sage pushed her foot into the sock and looked up at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"There were white lines on your feet."

"Probably the sun," she smiled, putting her boot on, "So are you leading today's… rescue mission, I suppose you could call it that…"

"Not really, Rick's in charge."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry about it, you've been gone awhile." She looked down for awhile, as if trying to figure just how much she had missed out on, until all of a sudden she began to smile again, and Daryl couldn't help but think that even in a hurricane she would be smiling as if she were dancing with the wind.

"Do you remember how to braid hair?" She smirked, remembering how Daryl had to learn to braid hair after he'd spend all day making Sage play boy games, running around and making her hair a complete mess, only to braid it again so her mother wouldn't know.

"C'mere" He motioned to between his legs and she moved over, placing an elastic on his knee, "Y'know you're going to ruin my reputation around here." He whispered in her ear, laughing. He didn't know what to do about her, he wanted to mess around and pretend like they were kids again god dammit he wanted that and he wanted her in every way he could manage, but he didn't want to die or see anyone else die because he was too involved in some girl. Merle would kill him if he saw him now, he thought but it was bittersweet and short lived. Him braiding a girl's hair would be the least of Merle's problems if they were to meet again. Daryl spotted Rick emerging from his bedroom, so to speak, and he hurriedly handed the end of her unfinished braid to her.

"Could you just finish up the ends? My hands are tired; it's longer than it used to be."

"Sure…" She drew out the word watching Rick cross the floor to where they kept their weapons. She'd let Daryl keeps his pride this time, but his hands sure as hell were not tired. "Hey, um…" Daryl looked down at her, still sitting between his legs.

"Yeah?"

"Does Rick trust me? I mean… I just don't want him to think I'm disloyal to you guys or anything…"

"I think so, I could talk to him I guess…"

"No it's okay I will…" She put her hair elastic in place, getting up.

"Wait just one thing…"

"Unhuh?"

"I'd recommend you tell the truth."

"What are you talking about?"

"Those were not sun lines, and you shouldn't be hiding things."

"I'm not."

"Then what was that?"

"Woodbury likes to torture." And with that she got up, leaving Daryl still sitting on her bunk as she walked up to Rick.

"Hey, uh… Rick?" He swiveled around, holding what looked like a cylinder bomb.

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering… if um, my alliances were clear?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I just wanted to make sure before we go out to help bring Maggie and Glenn back that it's clear, and you know that I'm on your side, and I absolutely hate Woodbury as well…"

"I understand that, but I'm just not so sure on whether or not I'll have you carrying weapons or anything major."

"What…?"

"I'm sorry I just don't want to jeopardize the group."

"Wait I'm sorry but is it that you don't think I can shoot or that I am not loyal to you?"

"I understand your loyalty I just don't want to haphazardly give out weapons."

"I absolutely respect your decision, but I would like to remind you that Daryl taught me how to shoot very short after he learned."

"Maybe some other time."

"I guess that's fair but um I do get to come and show you where Glenn and Maggie are right?"

"Of course, you're the prime factor in this effort." She walked off, still deliberating on whether or not he trusted her, especially since he had admitted he would not give her any weapons. Daryl walked up to her, before she could get into her room.

"What'd he say?"

"He trusted me but wouldn't let me use guns or carry them when we go get them tonight."

"Guns? You were always better with my crossbow anyways." He smiled, hoping to cheer her up but she only shrugged and went to go find Michonne, hoping that she'd know more about where they might be.

…

3 2 1

She watched as Rick enabled the smoke bombs and threw them into the street, the light drifting over the smoke, making it feel like a dream until she felt Daryl nudge her, she looked over and his hand was outstretched, handing her a gun. She mouthed 'no' as he pressed it into her palm, shaking his head and closing her hand around the pistol. She tucked it into the side of her pants, waiting for Rick's call to have them push forward. Sage ran in front of them, the concealed weapon burning into her mind as she couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that she was breaking a very important rule, and it felt like flames on her skin as she thought of the possibility that Rick might be looking at it that very second. She reached the building she had seen another prisoner in about a month ago, hoping this was the given torture chamber. She shoved open the door walking into a dead walker on the ground.

"What the hell…" She looked down pulling her foot away from it before she brought her attention to the brutalized Glenn and the girl she now knew to be Maggie. She rushed forward giving Glenn her hand, he just sat there dumbfounded.

"Sage… You're alive…?" She smiled down at him.

"Long story." She offered her hand again and this time he took it, hobbling over to Rick.

"How'd you find us?"

"Turns out you weren't the only ones who had to survive Woodbury." He went to motion to Sage and Michonne before realizing that Michonne was absent.

"Where'd that girl go?" Maggie questioned, standing up and walking to Glenn's side. Glenn moved over to Daryl.

"Daryl… it was Merle…" Daryl looked downward, nodding.

"I know…"

"He did this…" Glenn motioned to his face.

"He's done a lot" Daryl said sheepishly.

"What we need to focus on now, is getting out of here." Rick instructed, addressing the group.

"I'm staying behind." Daryl announced, looking directly at Rick, as if waiting for Rick to challenge him.

"That's not going to work" Rick stated, clenching his jaw.

"I have got some business with my brother."

"It's out of the question, Daryl"

"That's my brother out there and he-" Daryl cut off, looking towards Sage.

"'He' what, Daryl!"

"He's family!" Daryl tried to cover. He looked over to Sage and she shook her head.

"If we have any chance of getting out of here I need you! Are you with me?" Daryl nodded, pushing in front of Rick to lead their way back over the walls. Sage tried to follow after him before Rick stopped her, ripping the gun out of the side of her pants.

"You and Daryl need to pay attention to what is ahead of you. I instructed that you not hold a gun, under no circumstances were you to go against my orders in a situation like this, not matter how hard Daryl insists. He does not know what's best for the _entire_ group." Rick hissed, drawing the attention of Maggie who grabbed her arm and led her forward, casting a precarious look at Rick. They ran through the town, dropping smoke emitters and gunfire wherever they went. They dodged into a small alcove outside of what looked like a shop door as they tried to formulate a plan while taking cover from the gunshots surrounding them.

"I'm going to go lay down some cover fire." Daryl spoke loud enough to reach the group's ears over the gunshots but kept his voice lowered so that no one would be able to detect them.

"We are not splitting up" Maggie nearly begged, looking to Daryl hopefully.

"We have to" Sage stated following Daryl into the gunfire before anyone else could protest. He handed her a gun, something Rick would kill them both for later but she took it, eager to prove herself in this group. She faced the opposite direction that he was, her back pressed against his as they shot in separate directions. She looked to both of her sides, to two large groups of men about to encompass them.

"Daryl! Run!" She screamed, assuming he heard her as she ran off towards the street she once knew to be hers.

…

Sweat trailed down his face as they placed the rudimentary bag over his head, forcing him to walk.

He heard voices and he struggled against the men holding him, kicking up in each direction hoping to set himself free. He heard a man announcing, he couldn't make out the words, his ears were still ringing from such heavy gunfire. And then he was put in place, the bag removed from his head as he saw his brother before him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

She was loose in Woodbury; her lungs were beating into her ribs with every stiff breath that ripped through her body. Her entire body begged her to stop but her mind was set on finding the others, she moved as if instinctually. She heard rising voices, she changed directions. She entered the back of a crowd, gathered around the simple pit where the governor was speaking. He was addressing Merle as Sage rose to her toes, her eyes searching for any sign of her previous group. Two men brought in another, her eyes searched him. Daryl. She saw his pants, she had washed them this morning before they had set out, placing them in his palms when she was sure they were dry. Stepping forwards for just an instant she saw a small movement behind an army grade car. She weaved around people, crossing under a set of bleachers. Bending at the waist in order to hide behind the car she came up behind Rick and Maggie, tapping his shoulder. He rushed her downwards, throwing her back against the car with a gun to her temple. She looked at him frantically before he relaxed.

"Where were you?" He demanded, his jaw clenching at the end of his words.

"I saw those men and told Daryl to run, I never turned back to see if he did… I looked for you before I started to hear the crowd." He placed a handgun into her palm, nodding with such a severity Sage began to panic. She looked down, finding Rick's hand before grasping it, interlocking her fingers with his for some remnant of security. He squeezed her hand.

"He's going to be just fine, we all will be." He placed their hands on her knee; she bent over pushing her forehead into the top of his large hand, trying to even out her heart's erratic beat. She had never panicked like this before, she always scoffed at the idea of panicking she always thought she could just face anything. Never nervous, never terrified. Her mind trailed back to that day she and Daryl had made love for the first time. Shouts echoed in her ear. She was leaning into his body, her hands pressed to his chest. The governor was yelling something she could not hear. He kissed her forehead as he flipped her onto her back, his hands wrinkling her shirt; he had no idea what he was doing. "What's wrong with her?" Maggie's voice reached her as if from miles away. Her skin broke out in goosebumps, he held her just like she was gold, his arm wrapped around her back, causing it to arch; she had no idea what she was doing. Her shoulder was being pulled upwards; she looked into Rick's waiting face. And as if she had been shocked by lightening she pushed back the safety of the gun, heavy in her palm and pulled herself upwards shifting her gaze towards Daryl and Merle, fighting to the death. She nodded to Rick and with one look at Maggie he fixed his gaze back to the scene, throwing in a smoke bomb. At that gunfire began, Sage returning it aiming at anyone in the way of Daryl's escape. In the longest ten to twenty seconds of her life she finally visualized Daryl pushing towards them, Merle trailing close behind him. Daryl had his crossbow shouldered as he approached them.

"Let's go!" Rick shouted leading one of Woodbury's nearby walls. Everyone watched, frantic as Merle granted them an escape. They left hurriedly, taking down walkers as they went through the streets, breaking off at a run towards where they had left their cars.

Daryl reached out for Sage, grabbing her wrist and pulling her close enough to him so that he could speak to her as they ran. The heat radiating from his hand into her wrist, into her veins cleared her head. She tried to place it, her mind searching for the words. _Safe._ He fixed her and he protected her, and she thought of him when she needed guidance, security back in Woodbury, she had thought of the moment they were the closest. She cursed herself, she could not be so reliant in this world, in this world you lost everything you needed yourself and she didn't have herself anymore without Daryl. _Odi et amo_ she thought, she did hate and she did love, _quare id faciam, fortasse requires? _But unlike the poem _nescio _she did know why, she hated how damn dependant she was on this one man, the one she had just let down. But she needed him and in that needing was love. And yes, _sed fieri sentio, _it did happen, she could love and hate and she could not know or she could know how she felt that way, how it was possible. But it is not possible in this world to survive that way, her emotions could not be this way. She couldn't have emotions and with them, with the way she was there was only one possibly effect from that. _Excrucior. _Loving and hating, being warped in these emotions so much that she allowed herself to choke just when he needed her was torture, she was tortured.

…

They slowed to a halt in the middle of the woods, Michonne and Glen met them, instant animosity sparking between the two and Merle. Michonne lunged at him; Rick met her before she could make contact.

"Put it down" He demanded motioning to her raised weapon. Glen protested towards the way in which Rick was protecting Merle. Sage kept her head down, not wanting to attract Merle's attention or Daryl's pity. She didn't want to break them up just because of what Merle had done to her but she doubted she could handle living around Merle. Merle, continuing to run his mouth was met by a hit to the head, taking away his consciousness as Rick lowered his arm, walking towards the cars. Sage followed Michonne, running her hand through her hair in frustration. Glenn, Daryl and Rick murmured in hushed but urgent voices.

"You can't just send them out!" Daryl pled, looking back towards Michonne, Sage and sideways towards the woods where he knew Merle laid. Rick closed his eyes, weighing out his options, to him he had to protect the prison and if that meant leaving all three of the newcomers stranded then he would do so in a heartbeat.

"No" Rick sighed, opening his eyes. "We can't do it."

"That's my brother! She's-" Daryl halted thinking of a way to phrase every reason he wanted her to stay. "She's about one hundred pounds and five foot six inches and that's pretty generous, she can't hurt us. You can't do this."

"I can and I will." Rick stated, his gaze burning into Daryl's blue irises. "There are no other options."

"Fine, then count me out as well." Daryl bounded towards Sage, half-cocked and aggressive. Sage put her hand up to him, to stop him to calm him, she didn't know. He walked until his chest touched her fingertips.

"We're leaving." He stated simply taking her hand and pulling her towards Merle. She closed her eyes before she would've been able to see Merle. His voice made pierced her ears and she swore she could feel it entering her skull like razor blades.

**[The poem used in italics is a Latin poem written by Catullus, and translates to "I hate and I love, you might wonder how this is possible, I don't know but I feel that it happens and I am tortured." Anyways, I apologize for this being so late after the new episode I started the week without power since I live on the East Coast, with added school work and a dance competition I just couldn't find the time, making this one shorter as well but I promise my next one will be up faster and it'll be longer! Thanks!]**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The sky was getting dark; their first night without any shelter was proving to be difficult. Merle was intent on just sleeping in the open, no need for makeshift tents. But Sage preached of exposure. Daryl's head was spinning.

"Fine do whatever you want but I am making my own shelter." Sage stormed off, searching the ground for materials.

"I don't know what you're letting this bitch around here for." Merle smirked, sitting with his back against a tree. He picked up a stick, peeling the bark off with his thumbnail.

"I don't know why I'm letting you around here." Daryl's hand brushed through his hair, his breath flowing swiftly from his lungs as he exhaled audibly. Merle pointed the small stick at him, glowering.

"I don't like your attitude." He threw the stick at his brother; Daryl watched it land on his lap before getting up, following Sage's path. She was sitting and staring at six lines of heavy logs in front of her.

"What's all this?" He asked kicking the closest log; she buried her head in her hands in exasperation.

"Too heavy," she murmured, "And anyways I remembered we're not just setting up at Camp Sunshine. We'd be better off sleeping in a tree, and if we were to fall at least it would be merciful…"

"Maybe we can convince Merle to set up in one of those houses we saw a few miles back."

"A few miles back won't cut it at this rate."

"What other choice do we have?"

"We've been hearing a stream maybe a couple hundred yards off, maybe if we're near running water our sounds and smells might be a bit less, noticeable?" She pushed her head back against the tree behind her, closing her eyes. Daryl walked up in front of her, placing his hand on her collarbone, moving it up her neck until he caught her attention. Her eyes opened, they looked soft, almost as if she had just woken up from a three day sleep.

"Why can't we go back to Rick?" She murmured, her eyes closing again. Shit, Daryl thought, she was going to fall asleep right here with absolutely no shelter and only Merle to help him.

"Hey, hey c'mon we have to go find somewhere to sleep."

"'m okay here" Daryl dropped his hand; he moved it under her knee, putting his left arm behind her back. He picked her up, her feet lolling about with every step he took. He wished he could just drop her and wake her up; he knew what Merle would say. He cleared the distance between where Sage was and where he had last been with Merle.

"Well what do we have here?" Merle snickered, "I always knew you were weak Daryl, even as kids you'd fall to her feet no matter what she wanted."

"Yeah well just get me my bag then."

"I don't know where you have been, brother, but I ain't nobody's bitch." Daryl scoffed.

"Then hold her." He stepped forward, pushing Sage towards him. Merle smirked, taking her into his arms.

"I'm not gonna lie, this isn't the first time I laid hands on her since you abandoned me in Atlanta." Daryl threw his bag against the base of a nearby tree, taking Sage and putting her down, her head on his bag. Daryl pushed out his chest, lunging towards Merle.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" His voice cracked.

"It's not like she didn't put her hands all over me, you've got a little whore there." Merle smiled, winking at Daryl just to see him a little more unsettled.

"Who the hell do you think you are!"

"Come on like you haven't done worse to that poor little girl, you can blame it on him all you want but it was you!"

"If you think you know half of what we went through you're wrong! She wasn't born into this like us okay? She didn't need that!"

"You cannot blame that on me!"

"If you were there…" His eyes filled, Daryl blinked in a feeble attempt to rush the few tears back.

"I wasn't there okay! But I sure took care of your bitch when you left me!"

"Oh you took care of her alright… is that what you call it? Trading your secrecy for her sex? You are a damned liar." Daryl's voice was hushed, each word falling off his tongue like a short hiss, an expectant word that he did not want to get a response from.

"She gladly accepted that offer. Don't you try to assume things you have no part in!"

"How many times? Did she beg you to stop? I saw the bruises on her face! You really thought it was okay huh? She was so okay with it that you had to hit her to comply!"

"How do you know she's not a liar? Us, we're brothers Daryl."

"How many times." Daryl demanded his jaw stiff.

"Too many to count, but who's concerned anyways? All you have is me, you can't pick and choose like that. What is your pal Rick going to just swoop down on his angel's wings and bring you back? I damn well wouldn't count on it.

"I'd count on angel wings before I'd count on you!" Sage's eyes fluttered open; she jumped at the sight of just foliage beyond the darkness. She could hear Daryl yelling and she rolled onto her side before gently sitting up.

"Daryl, what's wrong?" She muttered, rolling her fist in circles over her eye.

"I didn't mean to wake you; c'mon we can just go to sleep then." He smiled at her, lying down next to her, his hands behind his head. Merle scoffed.

…

"You hear that?" Daryl's body was still. Sage listened, it sounded like crying, a baby possibly. She walked towards where the sound was coming from, ignoring Merle and Daryl's bickering for the moment.

"Come here!" Sage turned out towards a bridge, there had to be three or maybe two men fighting off what had to have been more than ten walkers. Daryl took one look before trudging up through the woods towards the bridge. Sage ran behind him, trying to keep pace with him. She pulled out the gun Rick had given her back in Woodbury, her left hand reaching for a knife she had tucked into the waistband of her jeans. She had just unbraided her hair from the night before and it was blowing into her face, she cursed herself for taking it down. Once on the bridge they swarmed into chaos. Sage took down two walkers with her gun before she became easily overpowered, with no time to aim a gun she lunged at the surrounding walkers, embedding her knife into one skull after another, the tissue fairly penetrable. She made guesses on how long the poor bastards had been dead. A female walker was approaching Daryl from behind, she ran up, thrusting the knife through its head with every amount of energy she had left. She brought the corpse to the ground, wrenching her knife out; she looked up, her gun hand lifting. Daryl had gotten the last walker, kicking it over the side of the bridge. She exhaled deeply, lowering her gun. The two men were rambling in Spanish. She uttered out the only freshman Spanish she could remember. She tried to console them with anything she could remember, damn she hated that class.

"Get out of the car" She swiveled around, watching as Daryl pushed his crossbow into his brother's back. She walked towards them her eyes on Daryl.

"I know you're not talking to me, brother." Merle spoke hurriedly, not taking the time to look back.

"Get in your car and go!" Daryl shouted, the two men scrambled towards the car, Merle slowly backed out of the car, holding his hands up. Daryl swiveled his crossbow away from his brother and downwards, he walked fast. Sage, already ahead of him was able to keep up.

"C'mon Daryl what's up?"

"He had no right to do that to those people."

"I know but… it wasn't about them last night, what's going on?" Sage's breath was starting to become frantic and struggled. Daryl's eyebrows knitted together as he looked at her chest, rising and falling at a rapid rate. He shook his head.

"It's nothin'"

"I'm not stupid you know…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sage halted, tossing her hair onto her right shoulder.

"Tell you what?" Her expression was a mix of exasperation and defeat; her arms were flung at her sides, rising until they made a perfect line across her back. Daryl turned around to meet her, his crossbow smashing into his back with the sudden movement. The way she looked made him forget, he couldn't think of how she lied to him of how she lied about how badly Merle had been to her, or about how, if Merle was being the honest one, about how the second she left him she went right to Merle. He rubbed his thumb over his chin, the spot that if on her face a scar would be. From the day they went ice skating and they were playing tag on the ice, and she went to tag him and they fell, his skate cutting the bottom of her chin. He smiled despite himself. The way she breathed made him yearn to be with her, to hold her so close that all he could feel would be her heart beat. He felt sick, like his insides were pulling out of his body like they could fall to her feet like an offering to the little girl he had always worshiped.

"Just forget it." He ran his hand through his hair and over his eyes. He tried to rub out the thoughts he wanted to hate her. He couldn't bear having an Achilles heel like her. In that moment with all of the lust and love he wanted to obliterate her, to destroy her so she could never make him feel a human emotion ever again. He wasn't with the group anymore and maybe if he was it would be okay. Surviving didn't call for love affairs. And in that moment he thought, if she turned he would be the first to embed a bullet in her brain.

"I am not forgetting about it!" Daryl thought quickly, by the pace that they walked Merle must be at least four hundred yards off. He closed the distance and kissed her. He kissed her like a rose petal and she kissed him like a thorn and in two seconds it was over.

"That is not an answer" She muttered as she pushed past him, walking in the direction he had started before. It only took a few minutes for Merle to come up behind them.

"What were you doing pointing that thing at me!"

"They were scared man…" Sage rolled her eyes, just what she had been waiting for.

"They were damn rude is what they were, rude and they owed us a token of gratitude."

"They didn't owe us nothin'"

"You helping people out from the goodness of your heart, even though you might die doing it. Is that something your Sheriff Rick taught you?" Daryl turned around to face Merle, Sage stopped.

"There was a baby!"

"Oh otherwise you would've just slipped them to the biters then?

"Man I went back for you, you weren't there! I didn't cut off your hand neither, you did that! Right before they locked you up on that roof! Now you asked for it."

"Daryl, come on…" Sage plead, she wanted to just find some shelter before it got dark, anything. Get back to Rick if they were lucky.

"You know, you know what's funny to me? You and Sheriff Rick: like this now." He motioned, connecting his fingers and holding them up. "Right? I bet you a penny and a fiddle of gold that you never told him we were planning on robbing that camp."

"It didn't happen." Sage looked at the two of them, incredulous. He had never told her that either…

"Yeah, it didn't. Because I wasn't there to help you."

"When we were kids, huh? Who left who then! It was just me and Sage up against the world, that wasn't fair!"

"What! Is that why I lost my hand!"

"You lost your hand because you're a simple minded piece of shit!"

"Yeah!" Merle latched on to Daryl, swinging wildly and grabbing at his shirt. She heard a tear and closed her eyes. Daryl and her against the world meant a lot of things, that she knew what Merle was seeing and she had to watch it happen when they were too scared and too young. Hell she had her battle scars too even though it wasn't even her father. Standing up for Daryl meant hell to pay back then but she never relented. All she could hear was Merle's heavy breathing and the sound of animals off in the distance, she kept her eyes clamped shut, it felt like a lifetime.

"I-…I didn't know he was…" Merle stammered, she heard Daryl getting off of the ground.

"Yeah he did" Even with her eyes shut against the two boys she could still see Daryl looking at her as his father inflicted those marks, only to wear them as scars for the rest of his life. "He did the same to you." She opened her eyes; Daryl locked her eyes with his and exhaled.

"That's why you left first."

"I had to man; I would've killed him otherwise." Daryl stormed off, pushing Sage ahead of him as he walked.

"Back where I belong!"

"I can't go with you!"

"What?"

"I tried to kill that black bitch! I damn near killed that Chinese kid!"

"He's Korean!"

"Whatever, it doesn't matter man I just can't go with you!"

"You know I might be the one walking away, you're the one that's leaving." He felt Sage take his hand, "Again." They kept walking, he changed his mind. With his brain warped and fixed on his brother Sage did connect with him, she fixed him when he hurt even if it was just by slipping her small soft hand into his. She had been in all of those memories, he had wrapped himself into the comfort of her eyes when his father had harmed him, and she had been there. She felt like coming home and he never wanted to leave again. He sighed out and raised her hand to touch his forehead. She smiled; he brought it down to his lips and kissed it.

…

Sage was sitting opposite Merle and Daryl, Merle having chased them down and, in Merle's slight way, begged to come back. She pulled her boot off, and peeled back her sock to look at the inevitable. Her feet were riddled with blisters and just about every single flesh would a foot could have, she sighed. She pulled her bag to her. Michonne had broke into her old apartment and collected it for her although she never described why or how or when she did it, she simply handed it to her once they got to the highway after taking back Daryl. She rifled through the contents, finally landing on a white t shirt. She ripped it up into strands, wrapping them around her feet and tying them methodically.

"You better clean that." Daryl grunted.

"Yeah with what?" Daryl reached into his bag, pulling out a plastic bottle of rubbing alcohol. He threw it to her. She grimaced remembering how bad it hurt on her knees before, and that was when it was just being dabbed at for extra precaution. She pushed the bottle back towards Daryl, untying the strips of fabric on her feet, and placing them on her thigh.

"You do it." She pushed her feet towards him and closed her eyes. "Actually, could you guys do it at the same time? I don't want it to hurt twice." Daryl pulled out the red cloth he had permanently in his back pocket. Merle motioned for a piece of the fabric.

"Be gentle." She warned, more to Merle than anyone as she handed over a portion of her fabric. They went to it quickly, and Sage swore she held her breath the entire time. Merle handled the job as if it was the highest assignment he had ever been sent out to do, she wanted him to hit her or something he just couldn't be _gentle _it was Merle after all…

"Finished." Sage took her foot back from Daryl, wrapping it with the strips of her t shirt. Merle leant forward, seizing half of the fabric and began wrapping her foot in it. She started at his hands working the makeshift bandage over her foot, she could feel her eyebrows pull together and her hands abandon their task. She let her hand go limp and for just a second she let it touch her foot before being woken up, per se, by the pain. Her eyes shot back down to her foot and she began frantically wrapping it. She finished as did Merle, she found clean socks in her bag and stuffed her foot into one before pondering how to move her foot from Merle's lap. She knew that if she was back in Woodbury a move away from him would mean she'd get hit, tossed, pushed, anything. She wasn't sure if the same rules applied, she waited.

"You okay there?" She looked up; Merle was looking at her a bit of concern on his face. She was puzzled. She lifted her foot and pulled it back towards her, pulling the sock on as she broke into a soft smile.

"Sorry..." She pushed her bag behind her, lying down so that her head rested on it as she pulled her feet up to the sky. "When I used to compete in figure skating, you remember that right?" They nodded. "My coach always told me to do this before I had to go on, reduces swelling or something like that." She had been on her way home from one of those competitions, a national one this time, when the world had gone to hell. As soon as she reached her childhood home the Dixon's were there explaining and preparing. She didn't have time to pack another bag so she just took the one she brought. She still had a pair of ice skates at the bottom of the bag.

Daryl watched her lying there; he prepared arrows, shaving down suitable sticks. He wanted to think of her, or how to fight off the Governor, or how to make Rick accept Merle, and Sage even. But he couldn't all he could think of was her and Merle, how she pretended like nothing happened, how she shut him down and lied to get out of telling the complete truth. How Merle had just acted with her, he didn't know if it was remorse or longing that drove Merle into caring for her like a lost and broken bird. He stood up, taking her boots and putting them next to her.

"We have to go." Movement would be his medicine today; maybe he wouldn't have to worry or think things over if he just got them moving and back to Rick. Sage pouted, Merle moaned. She pulled her boots carefully over her wounded feet and rose to leave.

…

Two walkers were positioned on Rick; Daryl put an arrow solidly through one's skull. Sage ran up, ripping the second off of him and throwing it to the ground, and in one solid movement she crushed it's skull with the heel of her boot. She looked to Rick, he nodded at her and she smiled, turning around to face all of the walkers. One by one, and together four by four they cleared the area of Walkers only to turn to see the grounds of the prison filled with even more. Safe havens never hold Sage thought, striking the ground with her foot, her fingers entangled in the fence in front of her.


End file.
